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Human beings have an emotional and psychological need to convert history into a science, for we have longed to have life and the world make sense. Yet, there are no general laws of history that can give precise measurement to human thought or action. There is for historians only the intelligible disorder of life, the fragments of which they gather, and from which they try to uncover truth, describe reality, and craft meaning. · I. The Rise and…

Even before November, the once trendy concepts of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) were already sinking. Now the election of Donald Trump all but guarantees their accelerated decline. · The DEI push gained momentum during the 2020 George Floyd riots, after being nurtured for years on most college campuses. Many companies, including Walmart, adopted its associated practices. But new research…

If you've never heard of fox nuts, you'd be forgiven for assuming that they don't sound particularly palatable. But they're actually starchy seeds harvested from an aquatic lily and are being hailed as a versatile superfood, with recent studies supporting why they've been a powerhouse in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for 3,000 years, treating everything from obesity to high cholesterol and inflammation. And no foxes are harmed in the process.…

Frederick Bennett, who had a Ngāti Whakaue mother and an Irish father, was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1897. He spent 13 years as superintendent of the Māori mission in Rotorua before moving to Hastings for mission work in Hawke’s Bay. · The idea of a Māori diocese with its own bishop was a response to the formation of the Rātana Church, which threatened to draw Māori away from established churches. For three years, there was deadlock…

Injecting a natural hormone directly into the gut reduces the cognitive impairment that accompanies a stroke in the long term, according to a new study. The findings add to evidence that a healthy gut means a healthy brain and pave the way for a treatment that reduces the chronic after-effects of stroke. · What with the number of studies confirming it, it’s pretty much a given now: the gut and brain are linked, such that the health of one…

The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nation’s gold, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the…

When it comes to monitoring the health of crops, aerial images captured by aircraft flying high overhead are only going to tell you so much. That's where an experimental new spectral sensor comes in, as it's mounted directly on the underside of individual plants' leaves. · Developed by Ko-ichiro Miyamoto, Kaori Kohzuma and colleagues at Japan's Tohoku University, the device is intended to be used on a number of "sentinel plants" located in…

Swedish startup Heart Aerospace is gearing up for the first experimental flight of the X1 early next year, an electric demonstrator aircraft that's the same size as its upcoming 30-seater commercial plane. · "The initial experimental flight of the Heart X1 demonstrator is designed to validate the capabilities of Heart’s innovative electric propulsion technology," the company says. It'll be a major milestone for the Gothenburg-based firm, which…

It's 2019 and bottlenose dolphin 1022, born in Scottish waters in 2007, is suddenly spotted completely alone, hundreds of miles from his home before ending up in Denmark, some 500 miles (800 km) away across the North Sea. · Meet "Delle," as he was named by the Danish locals. A solitary bottlenose dolphin whose actual name from years ago by Scottish researchers is Yoda, 1022, identified by his unique dorsal fin markings. He was part of the…

The Education Act 1877 (passed into law on 29 November) established free, compulsory and secular education for all Pākehā New Zealand children. The Act did not apply to Māori children, but they could attend the free schools if their parents wanted them to. Primary school education was made compulsory for Māori in 1894. · The 1877 Act required Pākehā children between the ages of seven and thirteen to attend school. The legislation covered…